Statrašos ramščiai [1890]: rėmimosi šaltiniai ir santykis su Varpo kalba
Statrašos Ramščiai [1890]: Sources and Relationship to the Language of Varpas

Summary/Abstract: Statrašos ramščiai [1890] is a 4-page set of orthographic rules duplicated using a hectograph by Vincas Kudirka (1858–1899) for the Varpininkai publications Varpas (1889–1905) and Ūkininkas (1890–1905). This study addresses two questions: (1) on what sources Statrašos ramščiai (hereinafter – StR) was based, and (2) what influence StR had on the language of Varpas. StR states that, when writing inflectional endings, one should rely on Friedrich Kurschat’s Grammatik der littauischen Sprache (1876; hereinafter – KG) and its shortened version, Erdmann Julius Schiekopp’s Litauiſche Elementar=Grammatik (1879–1881; 2 1881; hereinafter – ŠG). In addition, StR shares with these grammars the use of the character [l], imperative-mood forms with -gk, -kk of verbs whose root ends in -g- or -k-, certain cases of ogonek usage, and words beginning with e-, ei-. However, numerous discrepancies exist. The study shows that in preparing StR, Kudirka consulted with Petras Kriaučiūnas (1850–1916) (especially when selecting which paragraphs to include in StR) and took into account the work of linguists from Lithuania Major, namely Jonas Juška (1815–1886), Kazimieras Jaunius (1848–1908), and Antanas Baranauskas (1835–1905). StR, reproduced via the relatively fast hectographing process by Kudirka, must have reached the Varpas editorial office in East Prussia and its contributors quickly in 1890. Therefore, to determine its impact on Varpas, the language of the 1889 (i.e., pre-StR) and 1890 issues (post-StR) was analysed. The relationship between StR and Varpas is threefold: (1) StR established orthographic principles of Varpas that ceased to vary; (2) StR attempted to standardise those spelling practices in Varpas that had varied in 1889; (3) StR sought to change several existing orthographic principles at Varpas. A comparative analysis shows that StR did not have the intended effect on standardising the spelling in Varpas in 1890. Of the six cases cited in StR, only three showed improvements in consistency that year: the more consistent marking of [i] and [ī]; the establishment of imperative forms in -gk, -kk; and the spelling of tiesiog, vienok. The spelling reform induced by StR was somewhat more successful: three of the five new characters () were introduced ( and could not be used due to printingpress limitations); and four of eight spelling principles were changed (the nominative and instrumental plural of [i]ŏ-stem nouns and adverbs began to be written with -iai, -iais; the genitive plural of nouns with -ų; and names of nationalities with a lowercase initial).

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